Joni Evans (born April 20, 1942) is an American book publisher of over 100 bestsellers, writer, editor, and literary agent. Evans's background and career in publishing includes posts as senior vice president of the

William Morris Agency The William Morris Agency (WMA) was a Hollywood-based talent agency. It represented some of the best-known 20th-century entertainers in film, television, and music. During its 109-year tenure it came to be regarded as the "first great talent ...

(1994-2006), president and Publisher of

Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster LLC (, ) is an American publishing house owned by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts since 2023. It was founded in New York City in 1924, by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. Along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group US ...

(1977-1989), and publisher at

Random House Random House is an imprint and publishing group of Penguin Random House. Founded in 1927 by businessmen Bennett Cerf and Donald Klopfer as an imprint of Modern Library, it quickly overtook Modern Library as the parent imprint. Over the foll ...

(1989-1994).

Early life and education

Evans grew up in

Larchmont, New York Larchmont is a Village (New York), village located within the Town (New York), Town of Mamaroneck (town), New York, Mamaroneck in Westchester County, New York. Larchmont is a suburb of New York City, located approximately northeast of Midt ...

. She graduated from the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The university is composed of seventeen undergraduate and graduate schools and colle ...

with a BA in creative writing.

Career

From 1989 to 1994, Evans was executive vice president at

, Adult Trade Division and also publisher of Turtle Bay Books, a division of Random House. Previously, she had worked at

Simon and Schuster Simon & Schuster LLC (, ) is an American publishing house owned by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts since 2023. It was founded in New York City in 1924, by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. Along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group US ...

for 14 years where she served as subsidiary rights director, associate publisher, then as editor-in-chief of her own division, the Linden Press, and finally as president and publisher of Simon and Schuster. Michael Korda in his memoir describes Evans and with her the rise of the importance of publishing rights in the mid-1970s as well as her eventual partnership with Richard E. Snyder. From 1994 to 2007, Evans was a vice-president at the William Morris agency. Evans represented a wide array of authors, including Marcus Buckingham, Christopher Byron,

Ann Coulter Ann Hart Coulter (; born December 8, 1961) is an American conservative media pundit, author, syndicated columnist, and lawyer. She became known as a media pundit in the late 1990s, appearing in print and on cable news as an outspoken critic ...

Fannie Flagg Fannie Flagg (born Patricia Neal; September 21, 1944) is an American actress, comedian, and author. She is best known as a semi-regular panelist on the 1973–1982 versions of the game show ''Match Game'' and for the 1987 novel '' Fried Green To ...

, Martin Garbus,

Peggy Noonan Margaret Ellen "Peggy" Noonan (born September 7, 1950) is a weekly columnist for ''The Wall Street Journal'' and contributor to NBC News and ABC News. She was a primary speechwriter and Special Assistant to President Ronald Reagan from 1984 to 19 ...

James Patterson James Brendan Patterson (born March 22, 1947) is an American author. Among his works are the '' Alex Cross'', '' Michael Bennett'', '' Women's Murder Club'', '' Maximum Ride'', '' Daniel X'', '' NYPD Red'', '' Witch & Wizard'', '' Private'' and ...

, Liz Smith,

John Stossel John Frank Stossel (born March 6, 1947) is an American libertarian television presenter, author, consumer journalist, political activist, and pundit. He is known for his career as a host on ABC News, Fox Business Network, and Reason TV. Stos ...

and Michael Weisskopf. Before that she worked as an editor at William Morrow Publishers, the

Book of the Month Club Book of the Month (founded 1926) is a United States subscription-based e-commerce service that offers a selection of five to seven new hardcover books each month to its members. Books are selected and endorsed by a panel of judges, and members ch ...

, and for various women's magazines. Evans was part of a 2003

Penn & Teller Penn & Teller, Penn Jillette and Teller, are American magicians, entertainers, and scientific skeptics who have performed together since 1975. They are noted for their ongoing act that combines elements of comedy with magic. The duo has bee ...

's '' Bullshit!'' episode, which showed "a nice expose of Rosemary Altea during a taped readings arranged by Showtime. Viewers got a clear picture of how she worked the small group of people present for readings prior to the taping in order to glean information for later use. They also learned how her publicist, Joni Evans, seeded the group with people whose biographies were already known to Altea in order to boost her on-camera success." Joni Evans is one of the founding members and CEO of wowOwow.com. Evans founded the site in 2008 along with Liz Smith,

Lesley Stahl Lesley Rene Stahl (born December 16, 1941) is an American television journalist. She has spent most of her career with CBS News, where she began as a producer in 1971. Since 1991, she has reported for CBS's ''60 Minutes''. She is known for her ne ...

Mary Wells Lawrence Mary Georgene Wells Lawrence (née Berg; May 25, 1928 – May 11, 2024) was an American advertising executive. She was the founding president of Wells, Rich, Greene, an advertising agency known for its creative work. She was the first female CEO ...

and

. Michael Korda wrote that Joni Evans played an important part in opening up major executive jobs to women in the book industry as well as making editors and publishers more "conscious of the need to think about the markets for a book."

Personal life

Evans was married to

head

Richard E. Snyder Richard Elliot Snyder (April 6, 1933 – June 6, 2023) was an American publishing executive best known for his tenures at Simon & SchusterYardley, Jonathan (June 20, 1994). A Publishing Tycoon's Lasting Imprint. ''The Washington Post'' and Western ...

. Their high-profile divorce made headlines in 1990.Span, Paula (April 27, 1990). Divorce of the Publishing Titans; New York's Evans v. Snyder, The Battle of the Helpmates. ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

References

External links

Evans to Leave WMA

Joni Evans Jumps Ship

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20090228210206/http://www.wowowow.com/users/joni Joni Evansa
wowOwow
{{DEFAULTSORT:Evans, Joni Living people American book publishers (people) American women chief executives 1942 births University of Pittsburgh alumni People from Larchmont, New York American publishing chief executives 21st-century American women